Katahdin Iron Works

The Iron Age of Maine, Part I Maine Geological Survey Maine Geologic Facts and Localities September, 2003 The Iron Age of Maine - 1800's - Katahdin Iron Works 45° 26‘ 42.77“ N, 69° 10‘ 27.25“ W Text by Michael E. Foley Maine Geological Survey Maine Geological Survey, Department of Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry 1 The Iron Age of Maine, Part I Maine Geological Survey Introduction About 11 miles east of Dover-Foxcroft and 5 miles north of Brownville Junction you come to a sign, pointing up a dirt road, which reads Katahdin Iron Works State Historic Site. Driving up this dirt road you then come to two unusual stone and brick structures. One is a domed structure looking like a beehive or igloo (Figure 1); the other, a tower-like structure (Figure 2). These structures are all that is left of a prosperous iron-producing operation which took place here, and elsewhere in Maine during in the 1800's. Maine Geological Survey Photo by J. Poisson J. by Photo Figure 1. Brick kiln at Katahdin Iron Works. Maine Geological Survey, Department of Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry 2 The Iron Age of Maine, Part I Maine Geological Survey Katahdin Iron Works During the 19th century, mining activity in Maine focused primarily on the search for silver. But during this same time interval, a search for iron localities occurred, and a handful were discovered. Notable sites were located in Pembroke, Clinton, Newfield/Shapleigh, and the largest of them all at the Katahdin Iron Works locality. All of these locales set up forges to produce "pig iron," which was then used to produce cast iron. The primary use of the Katahdin Iron Works cast iron was to make rail car wheels and wire. Most of the furnace operations in Maine were on a very small scale, except for the one at Katahdin Iron Works, which was a large and thriving operation from 1840 to 1890. Maine Geological Survey Photo by J. Poisson J. by Photo Figure 2. Furnace at Katahdin Iron Works. Maine Geological Survey, Department of Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry 3 The Iron Age of Maine, Part I Maine Geological Survey History The precursor to the Katahdin Iron Works, the Pleasant River Iron and Steel Company, named after the river which ran through the area, was founded and incorporated in 1836 by a group of Maine residents (Eastman, 1967). Nationally rising iron prices may have encouraged the group to proceed with this venture. However, a nationwide depression occurred, and the ironmaking endeavor of the Pleasant River Iron and Steel Company did not proceed further than the purchase of some land. A new group of inventors took over and incorporated as the Maine Iron Company in 1841. Samuel Smith of Newmarket, New Hampshire, and his son, Edward Smith of Bangor, were the heads of this new company. In 1843, the Smiths had purchased most of the land in the township and were ready to begin construction of the iron works. A road was built into the site allowing the construction of the forging operation and development of a Maine Geological Survey settlement, named Smithville. Poisson J. by Photo Figure 3. Furnace at Katahdin Iron Works. Maine Geological Survey, Department of Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry 4 The Iron Age of Maine, Part I Maine Geological Survey History The blast furnace was the most important part of the iron works. A dam was built across the West Branch of the Pleasant River providing the water power to operate a large air pump (bellows) which supplied the blast of air for the furnace. Several large brick ovens (kilns) (Figure 4) were built where hardwood could be turned into charcoal, and several storage sheds were constructed to store the charcoal and limestone used in the operation. The blast furnace had only been in operation for a short period of time when the Smiths sold the business to David Pingree in 1845 for $100,000. (Eastman 1967). Maine Geological Survey From Katahdin Works Katahdin Iron From Figure 4. Charcoal kilns at Katahdin Iron Works (from Katahdin Iron Works website). Maine Geological Survey, Department of Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry 5 The Iron Age of Maine, Part I Maine Geological Survey History Pingree chartered a new corporation, the Katahdin Iron Works, early in 1846. He named it after Mount Katahdin, which lies thirty-five miles to the north. He hired an operations manager, found an experienced iron founder to run the blast furnace, and hired Dr. Charles T. Jackson, the first state geologist of Maine, to survey and test the ore deposit. Improvements were made at the site with the construction of new charcoal kilns and storage sheds, along with a new wood yard. A new store and several new houses were also constructed. By 1850, the company town of Katahdin Iron Works had a population of 160, including wood choppers, miners, and smelters. Pingree was the principal stockholder and president, and ran the company until his death in 1863 (Eastman, 1967). Others continued the operation sporadically until 1890. In 1872, Owen W. Davis purchased the Katahdin Charcoal Iron Company at Katahdin Iron Works. He managed this property until 1887 and he built the Katahdin Iron Works Railroad, twenty miles in length. The railroad helped the Katahdin Iron Works reach it's peak production in the 1880's, with 18-20 tons of pig-iron being produced daily. In 1884, during the height of operations, the village had grown to include homes for 200 workers (Eastman, 1967). Maine Geological Survey, Department of Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry 6 The Iron Age of Maine, Part I Maine Geological Survey History During the late 1880's, new steel mills were developed which used the blast furnace to supply molten pig iron directly to the steel-making furnaces. This allowed the steel-making operation to take place at one site, alleviating the need for the extra cost of transportation of the raw material to the furnace. A remotely located iron works, such as Katahdin Iron Works, was put at an economic disadvantage due to its remote location and high transportation costs. Furthermore, the small amount of poor quality ore remaining at Ore Mountain could not compete with the vast new and richer iron deposits discovered in the Lake Superior District (Hanson and Sauchuk, 1991). All of this made the Katahdin Iron Works operation outdated and uneconomical, and it ceased operation in 1890. Exploration of the sulfide portion of the ore body by the General Chemical Division of the Allied Chemical Corporation began in the late 1920's. Allied Chemical held on to the property for many years as a potential sulfur reserve. In the 1970's, Superior Mining Co. conducted an exploration program for economic concentrations of metals within the deposit (Babitzike and others, 1978). This project involved deep drilling. The most recent drilling activity took place during the winter of 1989-1990. No exploration is being conducted at Katahdin Iron Works at this time. Maine Geological Survey, Department of Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry 7 The Iron Age of Maine, Part I Maine Geological Survey Katahdin Iron Works - Description of Operation As stated in the introduction, some remnants (kiln and furnace) of the Katahdin Iron Works operation still exist. The stone furnace (Figure 2) was once attached to a group of buildings that comprised the iron-making operation. Figure 5 is a photo taken in the late 1880's, showing the Katahdin Iron Works operation, with each segment numbered for identification and description. Maine Geological Survey From Katahdin Works Katahdin Iron From Figure 5. Building complex at Katahdin Iron Works showing ore kiln (1), top houses (2), furnace (3), casting shed (4) and storage barn (5) (from Katahdin Iron Works website). Maine Geological Survey, Department of Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry 8 The Iron Age of Maine, Part I Maine Geological Survey Katahdin Iron Works - Description of Operation Once the iron ore was mined from nearby Ore Mountain and transported to the Katahdin Iron Works, it was prepared (crushed) for smelting in the ore kiln (1), before being dumped into the furnace through the top houses (2). Once in the blast furnace, the iron ore was heated and reduced to molten iron. The heat was provided by burning charcoal produced in brick kilns (Figure 1). The surrounding forests supplied thousands of cords of wood annually, which were easily converted to charcoal in large beehive-like kilns (Figure 4). Water from the West Branch of the Pleasant River was used to power the bellows which pumped air into the furnace (Figure 6) and increased the temperature to melt the ore. Limestone was mixed with the ore as a flux, lowering the melting point of the ore, and allowing the molten iron to flow more easily out of the bottom of the furnace and into the casting shed (4) (Figure 5) which was attached to Maine Geological Survey the base of the furnace. Works Katahdin Iron From Figure 6. Diagram of workings of blast furnace (from Katahdin Iron Works website). Maine Geological Survey, Department of Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry 9 The Iron Age of Maine, Part I Maine Geological Survey Katahdin Iron Works - Description of Operation When the molten iron had pooled at the bottom of the furnace, workers in the casting shed "tapped" the furnace by knocking out a clay plug. The iron then ran out into channels made with shovels in the sand floor by the workers (Figure 7). As it oozed over the sand, the iron made a noise like a pig, thus the name "pig iron." When the "pigs" cooled, they were sent to market either by wagon, or in later years by train to Bangor where they could then be shipped by boat to market.

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